Can nuclear waste teach us about long-term thinking?

The Land & Climate Podcast

19-04-2024 • 30 mins

Does our society have an addiction to short term thinking and planning? Is our failure to mitigate climate change a result of this?

Vincent Ialenti spent three years doing fieldwork in Finland, interviewing experts working on Posiva's Safety Case for the world's first long term nuclear repository, Onkalo.

His book about that fieldwork, Deep Time Reckoning: How Future Thinking Can Help Earth Now, explores the idea of "shallow" and "deep" time thinking. Dr. Ialenti uses Onkalo as a case study for how policy can involve ongoing work over decades, and look ahead towards potential impacts hundreds of thousands of years into the future - if expertise is as trusted and depoliticised as it is in Finland.

Bertie spoke to Vincent about the book, and how policymakers and the climate sector can think beyond the next generation or electoral cycle.

Dr. Vincent Ialenti is a Research Associate at California State Polytechnic University Humboldt’s Department of Environmental Studies. Audio engineering by Vasko Kostovski.

Further reading:

Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.

You Might Like

Americast
Americast
BBC News
HARDtalk
HARDtalk
BBC World Service
Deep State Radio
Deep State Radio
The DSR Network
The Young Turks
The Young Turks
TYT Network
Westminster Hour
Westminster Hour
BBC Radio 4
Strict Scrutiny
Strict Scrutiny
Crooked Media
Parliament Matters
Parliament Matters
Hansard Society
The Wonkhe Show
The Wonkhe Show
Mark Leach
Red Lines
Red Lines
BBC Radio Ulster
Melody Minutes
Melody Minutes
Kanishk Mahawar
The Fact Hunter
The Fact Hunter
Delmarva Studios
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute